Pacers at Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks showed off what their offense is capable of in a thrilling performance against the Houston Rockets on Monday, now they just need to find that level consistently. The Bucks will try to make it back-to-back wins when they host the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.
Milwaukee shot 59.3 percent from the field as Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded a triple-double and Jabari Parker scored a career-best 36 points. "I think I'm getting more comfortable every game, day by day," Antetokounmpo, who has taken over point-guard duties on the starting unit, told reporters. "At the beginning it was hard; it's a position I'm not used to. I'm trying to not label myself as a point guard. I'm just trying to run the offense and find the open guys." The Pacers have dropped three in a row to fall into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, six games ahead of the Bucks. Indiana began a string of six of seven on the road with a 100-96 loss at Cleveland on Monday, and the lone home game in that span is against the San Antonio Spurs.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE PACERS (31-29): Indiana was in the game against Charlotte, Portland and Cleveland in the last three contests and could not find a way to execute down the stretch. The Pacers were up by three points with less than 90 seconds remaining against the Cavaliers before surrendering a game-tying 3-pointer and missing three shots from within six feet in the last minute. "We played together," forward Paul George told reporters after the loss. "We took it to this team. We played aggressive. It’s another game where we were up and for whatever reason we couldn’t finish."
ABOUT THE BUCKS (25-35): Parker had his rookie campaign cut short and got a late start in his sophomore campaign due to a knee injury but has made up for lost time of late. The Duke product has gone for 20 or more points in four of the six games since the All-Star break, and coach Jason Kidd credits the improvement with the confidence Parker gained from playing in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star weekend. “There was a big play (Monday) to catch and just rip and go, and get the and-one,” Kidd told reporters of Parker. “You could see his athletic ability is at an all-time high. You couldn't tell he ever had an injury. That All-Star trip to Toronto gave him a lot of confidence."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks G Khris Middleton is averaging 25.7 points in the last three games and is 21-of-21 from the free-throw line in that span.
2. Pacers SF C.J. Miles (calf) sat out the last five games and remains day-to-day.
3. Milwaukee earned a 120-116 win at Indiana on Dec. 31 in the most recent meeting.